Ice making apparatus



I Nov. 24, 1936. \I. N. HYBlNETTE 2,062,180

ICE MAKING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 17, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 /n Men for l/fcfor /V. figb/na/fe y A fforn e Nov. 24, 1936.

y. N. HYBINETTE 2,062,180

ICE'MAKING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 17, 1952 ln Van for V/c for fl /b/fleffe Afforney Patented Nov. 24, 1936 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2.03.180 V ICE MAKING APPARATUS Victor N. Hybinette; Jackson, Mich. Application November 17, 1932, Serial No. 643,011 liClaims. '(oi. ass-103.5)

Th p es t invention relates t imp v Fig. isa cros sectional view taken on line ments in ice making apparatus and has par tlcular'reference to mechanisms increasing the eficiency of the freezing units placed in the 5 modern household refrigerator.

Heretofore, it has been the practiceto provide a freezing unit in the form of a rectangular evaporation tank having the cooling coilswrapped thereon. Into this unit trays are loosely inserted and for the most part spaced from the walls of the evaporation tank a substantial distance. It is generally understood that the' ice making capacity of the mechanical'household refrigerator is too small and the freen'ng'period too long. Therefore, it becomes the primary object of this invention to improve such capacity and reduce the freezing period without increase in the cost of operation.

In the broad conception, my invention consists in arrangements permitting transfer of heat units by means of conduction by metallic con-=" tact in lieu ,of by radiation and convection through air space. It is true that even in the present freezing units a small portion of the heat is transferred by conduction, but, to my knowledge, no attempt has been made to employ naetallic conduction as the principal medium for heat exchange.

In carrying my invention into practice considerable departure from the conventional con struction and arrangement of trays for ice cubes and frozen foods have resulted. These difierences and advantages will be pointed out as the description progresses and will, be set forth in the appended claims. Furthermore, my invention includes novel mechanisms for effecting a uniform and positive contact between the walls of the trays and walls of the evaporator. Likewise, the objects and advantages of such mechanisms will hereinafter be pointed out in the specification and claims.

In order that the present invention will be clearly understood, several preferred forms which my invention is susceptible of taking in 5 its application have been illustrated in accompanying drawings wherein, I

Fig. 1 is a partial perspective view of a refrigerator cabinet equipped with my improved freezing unit.

50 Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the freezing unit taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the tray shown in Fig'. 1. v fiis a perspective view of a modified form 5,? o" i rnproved freezing. unit. I

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view of a modified form'taken on line iii-t of Fig. 7. Fig-7 is a cross sectional view taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8-is a cross sectional view of a furthermodification of my invention taken on line 8-8 of Fi 9.

Fig.9 is a view similar to Fig. '7 taken on line n 99 of Fig.8.

Figs. 10 and 11 are cross sectional views of a still further modificationof my invention taken on lines ll-li and lB-JE of the respective figures.

- It is well recognized that both ice and air are 'poor' conductors of heat. Herebefore, it has been the practice to support the trays in which water or foods are conventionally frozen'loosely within the freezing unit 'and spaced from'the walls 6 thereof on all sides except p'erhapsat the bottom. This has resulted in the formation of frost and ice upon the outer sides of the trays as well as a-layer of insulating ice upon the bottom of the unit' supporting the tray. Furthermore, the 25 trays are surrounded on all'sides except the bottom by a stratum of air which is relatively a poor conductor of heat and which effects a decreasing exhange of the heat as the temperature of the entire refrigerator chamber decreases and 3 the circulation of air around the trays is correspondingly reduced.

In carrying the present invention into practice the trays or containers are forced by positive pressure into direct contact with the walls of the freezing unit. This prevents the formation of insulating ice between the contacting walls of the unit and tray and eliminates the. freezing of the trays into the unit. In order that the area of the tray in direct contact with the walls of the unit be suflicient to give the desired capacity and freezing period, it has been found advantageous in some cases to provide a vertical type of tray. Also, the efiiciency of the apparatus is increased by constructing the walls of the trays or containers from a flexible material permitting the same to be deflected inwardly into positive contact with the partitions or grids employed to separate the frozen contents into cubes or the like.'

Having reference tothe accompanying 'drawings, in'Fig. 1 is shown,locate'd in a. cabinet I of the usual household refrigerator, a freezing unit 2 embodying my improved features. A housing 3,.

preferably metallic, is suspended in the cabinet I 66 by a baffle plate 4 and horizontal supporting members 5. One of the side walls of the housing 3 is provided with resilient members 6 for positively forcing the ice tray into contact with the opposite side of the housing 3- as will be hereinafter explained. Preferably, cooling coils I are only located adjacent the side of the housing against which the tray is forced. This is a decided departure from conventional practice, but-is made possible by, the increased efllciency of my improved umt. By locating the cooling coils I in this manner, the cabinet is cooled by the surface of the coils adjacent the baflle 1 and the surface adjacent the housing 3 freezes the contents of the tray. In practice positive metallic contact between the tray and the cooling surface has resulted in such a remarkable increase in capacity and decrease in freezing time that the length of cooling coils required may be materially reduced in order to give the results being obtained under present practice. This is one of the reasons permitting the coils I to be located upon one side only of the freezing unit.

The tray 8 shown in Fig. 3 as removed from the 5 unit is of a vertical type of considerable depth. Preferably the tray is fabricated from springy material in order that positive pressure upon the sides thereof will deflect the same into contact with the removable metallic'grids or partitions 9, employed to'form ice cubes, in order to carry the direct metallic transfer of heat into the interior of the tray. I

The resilient members 6 are illustrated as fiat springs having rounded noses It. When the tray 8 is inserted into the housing 3, the back edge thereof will ride over the noses l0 placing the members 6 under compression. With the tray 3 fully inserted in the housing 3, the side adjacent the coil 1 will be positively forced 'into contact with the side of the housing as shown in Fig. 2. Obviously, other types of resilient members may be employed to force the tray into contact with the cooling surface. Likewise, different trays and arrangements of the cooling coils may be satisfactorily employed without departing from the scope of my invention.

In Figs. 4 and 5 a modified form of my invention is shown in which .a housing ID of the freezing unit is provided with converging vertical sides.

The trays l I, likewise, have converging sides andv upon firm insertion of the traysinto the housing ill a wedging action'is efiected whichbrings the side of the trays into positive pressure contact with the cooling surface. The spring construction of the trays I'l tends to accentuate the wedg ing action and retain the trays in position. Furthermore, the closed joint between the sides of the trays and the housing prevents the freezing of the trays into the unit to any appreciable extent.

In Figs. 6 and 7, a further modification is illustrated in which a housing l2 has wrapped thereabout cooling coil l3. A shaft I4 is journaled' in bearings l5 located on the bottom and centrally I of the housing l2. Right and left handed threads /,-are' provided at l6 and I1, respectively, upon the "shaft i4. Sleeves l8-i9 are threaded upon the portions l8l'|, and are retained in an upright position during a transversing movement along 70 the shaft I5 by the provision of tongue portions 20 slidable in a groove 2| formed in the housing l2.

Arms 2223 are pivotally secured to the sleeves i8-l9 and have a pivoted connection with a wedge member 24. Upon rotation of the shaft I4 75 by the crank 25, the wedge 24 is raised or lowered in a vertical plane depending upon the direction of rotation.

Trays 252'|, which may be constructed similarly to the tray shown in Fig. 3, are insertable into the housing i 2 with the wedge 24 in a lowered position. The opposed sides of the trays are preferably convergent, as shown in Fig. 6. After the trays have been inserted with the wedge 24 in a lowered position the raising of the wedge 24 forces the tray outwardly into contact with. the sides of the housing l2. Obviously, the wedge and operating mechanism associated therewith may be mounted upon a bottom insert in lieu of being integral with the housing to enable installation in presentrefrigerator cabinets without alteration of the freezing unit.

Another arrangement of wedge mechanism is shown in Figs. 8 and 9 wherein a housing 28 is wrapped with cooling coils 29 inthe usual manner and is provided with a wedge shaped partition 30 at the rear of the housing. A wedging member 3| is pivotally suspended from the central upper portion of the housing 28 through an arm 82. The arm 32 terminates in a handle portion 83. In operation, the wedge 3| is raised by the handle 33 and the trays 34-85 insertedinto the housing 28. The opposed vertical sides 36-31 of the trays converge inwardly relative to each other. This permits the trays to be guided into position by the partition 30 which functions to retain the rear of the trays adjacent the walls of the housing 28 and provides a V-shaped crevice to receive the wedge 3L; With the trays in position, the wedge is lowered and forced between them, moving the same laterally into positive contact with the sides of the housing 28. The wedging angle is such that the wedge will remain in position without locking and will not be loosened by the vibration of the compressor.

In Figs. 10 and 11, a modification of the arrangement shown in Figs. 8 and 9 is provided by slidably supporting a wedge 38 having a tongue 88 in a groove 48 located in the housing 4|. The wedge 38 is drawn forward through a linkage 42-43 pivoted at 44 and having a handle 45. Trays 4641 are slidably received in the housing 4| and have vertical side portions 48-48 converging inwardly relative to each other. The slopes of the portions 48'48 andthat of the sides of the wedge 38 are preferably the same and of a degree capable of effecting a self locking action when the wedge is drawn forward by an inward movement of the handle 45. In this manner the trays in the position shown in Fig. 10 may be moved laterally into positive contact with the side of the housing.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 6 to 11, inclusive, with the wedges in an inoperative position, the forward ends of the trays may be-moved inwardly to loosen the trays from the side of the housing in the event freezing between the joint takes place.

In the appended claims referenceto a cooling surface is intended to cover the surface constituted by the coils and/or the housing to which they are adjacent and also the cooling coils without the housing, as it is obvious that the coils may be employed along without any type of liner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire -to protect by Letters Patent is:-

1. In a refrigerator cabinet, the combination with a cooling surface, of a removable container having flexible side portions adapted to be supported adjacent said surface,- a removable grid in said container, and means positively forcing said side portions into contact with said grid and at least one of said sides into contact with said cooling surface.

2. In a refrigerator cabinet, the combination with a cooling surface, of a removable container adapted to be supported adjacent said surface, said surface being located on one side only of said container and projecting into the interior of said cabinet for cooling the same, and means forcing one side of said container into direct contact with said cooling surface.

3. In a refrigerator cabinet, the combination with a cooling surface, of a removable container supported adjacent said surface, and means exerting a wedging action upon said container to positively force said container into contact with said surface.

4. In a refrigerator cabinet, the combination with a cooling surface, of a removable container supported adjacent said surface, and a movable wedge engaging one side of said container to positively force said container into contact with said surface.

5. In a refrigerator cabinet, the combination with spaced cooling surfaces, of removable containers supported'between and adjacent said surfaces, and a movable wedge engaging the opposed side of said containers to positively force said containers into contact with said surfaces.

6. In a refrigerator cabinet, the combination with spaced cooling surfaces, of removable containers supported between and adjacent said surfaces, opposed sides of said containers converging relatively to each other, and a movable wedge engaging between said converging opposed sides to positively force said containers into contact with said surfaces.

Z. In a refrigerator cabinet, the combination with spaced cooling surfaces, of removable containers supported between and adjacent said surfaces, a wedge supported for movement in a vertical plane intermediate said containers, and means for moving said wedge into contact with said containers to force the same into contact with said surfaces.

8. In a refrigerator cabinet, the combination with a metallic housing, of cooling coils in contact with the outside of the housing, a removable metallic tray of a dimension enabling the same to be loosely insertable into said housing, and

manually operable nonresilient means for positively forcing one side of said tray into direct contact with the inside of said housing cooled by said coils.

9. In a. refrigerator cabinet, the combination with a cooling surface, of a removable container of a dimension enabling the same to be loosely supported adjacent said surface, and manually operable nonresilient means for positively forcing one side of said container into direct contact with said surface.

10. In a refrigerator cabinet, the combination with a cooling surface, of a removable container adapted to be supported adjacent said surface, said surface being located on one side only of said container and projecting into the interior of said cabinet for cooling the same, and manually operable means for positively forcing one side of said container into direct contact with said cooling surface.

11. In a refrigerator cabinet, the combination with a continuous cooling surface, of a removable container having a continuous surface supported adjacent said cooling surface and means exerting awedging action on said container to positively force the continuous surface of said container into contact with said continuous cooling surface.

12. In a refrigerator cabinet, the combination with a cooling surface, of a removable container supported adjacent said surface, a wedge engaging the side of said container away from said surface, and manually operable means to move said wedge against said container to positively force the same into contact with said surface.

13. In a refrigerator cabinet, the combination of spaced cooling surface, of a removable container having opposed surfaces supported between and'adjacent said cooling surfaces, said container and cooling surfaces being convergent whereby said opposed container surfaces are brought into direct contact with said cooling surfaces upon the insertion of the container.

14. In a refrigerator cabinet, the combination with a cooling surface, of a removable container having at least one flexible side adapted to be supported adjacent said surface and means for forcing said flexible side into contact with said cooling surface.

VICTOR N. HYBINETTE. 

